Invest in Wales’ fastest-growing city or lose young talent, Welsh Government warned

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

The Welsh Government should “smell the coffee” and provide enough funding for Wales’ fastest-growing city or risk losing talented young people, its council leader has warned.

Newport council leader Cllr Dimitri Batrouni said the city needed investment in housing, schools and transport, with Welsh Government figures showing it is the only council area projected to see an increase in children aged 0 to 15 this decade.

“I think a lot in Cardiff Bay view [us as] ‘little old Newport’ – that is changing rapidly,” he said.

“Newport’s changing, and it needs the infrastructure to meet that. The local authority has a role, absolutely, but we don’t have the means to do significant public infrastructure.”

The Welsh Government said Newport is “an important and growing city, and we recognise that infrastructure and public services need to keep pace with population growth”.

It has commissioned a review of the funding formula for Welsh councils, “to make sure it better reflects the real cost of delivering services in different parts of Wales”.

However, Cllr Batrouni has previously raised fears any funding changes could mean Newport loses out.

In recent years, Newport has received the highest percentage increase of funding for any council, because of its population growth.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), he said the city council was “building more homes as fast as we can within the rules” and is “one of the few local authorities which are going to have to build new schools, not close them”.

He pointed to Welsh Government figures which show Newport is “the only local authority projected to see an increase in the number of children and young people aged 0 to 15 years old”.

“Newport’s story is just one of growth, so you have to match the infrastructure with that growth,” he said.

“If the infrastructure doesn’t keep up, we’re looking at significant problems around traffic and people getting around, we’re looking at not building enough homes, we’re looking at not enough schools.”

Cllr Batrouni said his biggest concern “as a proud Welshman” would be the city “haemorrhaging our young people” if they instead looked for opportunities in England.

“I’m a person that wants to keep them,” he said, adding young people would need to feel they could “afford a house, start a family [and] have a good career” in Newport.

“We’ve got to change the conversation to how we keep them and what we need to invest in,” he added.

In response to Cllr Batrouni’s comments, the Welsh Government told the LDRS it wants young people “to have every opportunity to build a successful future in Wales”.

The Welsh Government said it had invested in Newport’s regeneration through the Transforming Towns programme, and had “delivered significant investment to help the council meet growing demand for school places”, including £20 million for Bassaleg School and £15 million for Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed.

“We will work closely with the council through the 2027 programme review to consider future investment needs, including those that arise from population growth,” the government said.

Social homes

On wider housing investment, the government said it had pledged 20,000 extra social homes across Wales by 2030 and put £474 million towards social housing this year.

“Alongside investment in homes and public services, young people need access to training and good career opportunities,” the government added.

“Our National Skills Audit will inform a new vocational education and skills strategy which will be published next year.

“This will help align education and training with employers’ needs and future opportunities in the Welsh economy.”

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